Level 18
: 25,000/50,000, 5,000 ante
2016 PokerStars EPT Season 13 Prague
€50,000 Super High Roller
Day: 3
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2016 PokerStars EPT Season 13 Prague
Buy-in
€50,000
Prize Pool
€2,352,735
Entries
49
Level
22
Blinds
60,000 / 120,000
Ante
20,000
Level 18
: 25,000/50,000, 5,000 ante
Time for action in the last ever PokerStars EPT. The final table of the €50,000 Super High Roller has started!
Level: 18
Blinds: 25,000/50,000
Ante: 5,000
After two days of action-filled poker, the field of 49 entries in the 2016 PokerStars EPT Season 13 Prague €50,000 Super High Roller has been whittled down all the way to the last six hopefuls. A prize pool of €2,352,735 has been created and all finalists have €152,915 locked up for their efforts, but all eyes are set on the first-place payout of €741,100 and becoming the last ever EPT Super High Roller champion before the rebranding in 2017.
Leading the final table line up is King's Casino Rozvadov owner Leon Tsoukernik with 4,330,000 followed by two-time EPT High Roller champion Charlie Carrel with 3,565,000. Both won huge pots late on Day 2 to eliminate Jean-Noel Thorel and Mustapha Kanit respectively to establish a decent lead over the remaining four hopefuls. Tsoukernik and Carrel clashed several times on Day 1 already and Tsoukernik had to re-enter as a result, before over taking the spotlight after Day 2.
Juha Helppi (1,615,000) and Viacheslav Buldygin (1,230,000) are in the middle of the pack while Paul Newey (955,000) and Germany's Julian Thomas (535,000) are the two short stacks. Newey finished runner up to Leonid Markin in this very event in 2014, while Thomas' biggest cash to date comes from one year prior after taking down the 2013 WPT Prague Main Event.
EPT13 Prague Super High Roller Final Table
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Leon Tsoukernik | Czech Republic | 4,330,000 | 87 |
| 2 | Paul Newey | United Kingdom | 955,000 | 19 |
| 3 | Charlie Carrel | United Kingdom | 3,565,000 | 71 |
| 4 | Julian Thomas | Germany | 535,000 | 11 |
| 5 | Viacheslav Buldygin | Russia | 1,230,000 | 25 |
| 6 | Juha Helppi | Finland | 1,615,000 | 32 |
The action will resume in 90 minutes from now at 12 p.m. local time with almost 50 minutes left in level 18 and blinds of 25,000-50,000 with a running ante of 5,000. The PokerStars live stream with cards up will be on a security delay of one hour and the PokerNews live reporting team will provide hand-for-hand updates until a winner is crowned.
One of Europe's true high rollers, Tsoukernik runs the show over at King's Casino on the Western edge of the Czech Republic but has made the short journey to Prague for this last EPT Super High Roller. Tsoukernik is no stranger to big action, having been a participant in a number of nosebleed cash games in his home casino against the likes of Patrik Antonius and other big-name pros.
Tournaments don't seem to be his area of expertise as he has just one recorded cash, coming back in 2011 for €33,020. It's clear the joy of pulling off big bluffs plays a central role in Tsoukernik's drive to play poker, and he's certainly not afraid to get chips in the middle at any time. He'll be active as ever in seeking his first big tournament cash.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
4,330,000 |
Newey is one of the high rollers without a true poker pedigree in the sense that he did not build a roll in smaller buy-in events. The well-bankrolled Brit hopped into deep water pretty much right away and has cut his teeth against some of the world's best tournament players over the past few years.
Observe nearly any high buy-in event around the globe recently, and one was likely to lay eyes on Newey. He has been a regular face at final tables, including making the second $1 million Big One for One Drop final table in 2014. He's totaled over $4 million in cashes but is still seeking that first big win.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
955,000 |
A young British pro who crushed online under the name "Epiphany77" on PokerStars, Carrel has made a remarkably smooth transition to live poker. He has already bagged a pair of EPT High Roller titles, winning a €25,500 High Roller at EPT Grand Final 2015 for €1.1 million and a €10,200 High Roller at EPT Dublin for €164,500.
Indeed, Carrel is already acutely attuned to looking for live tells, as he spends quite some time studying the faces and reactions of opponents in every notable hand and isn't afraid to get the banter going in search of information. Carrel's looking to add to his $3 million in live cashes and is certainly a favorite to do so given his stack.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
3,565,000 |
Thomas is a young German grinder, and while he hasn't attained the fame or fortune of some of his compatriots like Ole Schemion and Christoph Vogelsang, he still doesn't lack for some nice results. Thomas' best live score came in this very city in 2013, when he beat out a field of 306 runners to win World Poker Tour Prague for €206,230, almost exactly half of his live cashes.
Thomas has shown he isn't afraid to gamble in big spots, like when he surprised Anthony Zinno with a raise-call for almost 20 big blinds holding king-jack, and he'll take that fearless attitude to the final table.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
535,000 |
Not much is known about Buldygin, a young Russian player who has reportedly done well online. That would be the likely explanation for Buldygin's ability to play in some of the high-stakes live events, considering he had no live cashes until August 2015.
Since then, he has been unafraid to mix it up within the nosebleeds of the EPT, with three of his four live cashes coming in EPT High Rollers to account for most of his $258,094. Buldygin has been close to grabbing wins twice but finished runner-up in a pair of Malta events. He's a bit hot right now after cashing the €10,000 prelim event here at EPT Prague for €20,250.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
1,230,000 |
Among the high roller community, few have been doing it as long as Helppi, whose first live cash came way back in the day at an event called Helsinki Freezeout 2001 for just over $5,000. The Finn has come a very long way since then with over $6.5 million in cashes and nary a score bigger than $400,000. Helppi has experienced his share of success on EPT high rollers, with five top-five finishes.
One of those came in this very event two years ago, when Helppi finished fourth for €269,360 in a tournament won by Leonid Markin. He tends to be the quiet sort at the table, contrasting him a bit with some of his opponents here, but the Finn will be drawing on a vast well of experience.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
1,615,000 |
